Minorplanet Systems USA, Richardson, Texas, has signed a wireless agent agreement for GSM service with Cingular Wireless.

"The wireless agent agreement provides Minorplanet with an additional GSM wireless partner, expanding the market opportunity for our Vehicle Management Information technology," said Jana Ahlfinger Bell, president and chief executive officer of Minorplanet Systems USA. "In addition, as we increase the number of GSM providers for VMI, over time our customers will have a choice of preferred GSM cellular providers.
"Until now, Minorplanet has been exclusively reselling cellular airtime to its customers," said Bell. "As a GSM wireless agent, the customer relationship is directly with the wireless carrier, and as a result, we can sharply focus on our core competencies - VMI sales, service and support."
Minorplanet's agreement with Cingular is effective immediately and will begin in the Minorplanet Los Angeles region.
Minorplanet Systems USA sells Vehicle Management Information, a fleet management solution that combines global positioning system and wireless vehicle telematics technologies to monitor vehicles, minute by minute, in real time. The company also markets, sells and supports a customized GPS-based fleet management solution for large fleets like SBC Communications, which has more than 37,000 installed vehicles.
Previously, the company was known as @Track Communications, which itself began as HighwayMaster Communications in the 1990s. Early in 2001, after the NASDAQ exchange threatened to de-list its stock, @Track found a rescuer in Minorplanet Systems PLC of Leeds, England. MinorPlanet provides a telematics system called Vehicle Management Information. Earlier this year, @Track sold its other trucking services, including its former flagship product HighwayMaster 5000, to Aether Systems of Owings Mills, Md.